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"A literal construction of the EC and EU Treaties suggests that their framers intended to limit the positive competences of both the Community and the Union in the field of criminal law. However, the European Court of Justice has consistently applied tests of necessity and effectiveness to develop the Community's catalogue of legislative competences and the interpretation of Community law, culminating in decisions which accord to the Community a limited criminal competence where this is deemed necessary for the effectiveness of other policy aims. This book takes stock of the development of criminal law in the context of the European Community and the European Union, and examines whether this has led to a European criminal policy, and interrogates the legal effects that European-level initiatives in the field have on national criminal law and on suspects. The work reflects on the interaction between the law of the European Community and national criminal law since the signing of the Treaty of Rome and proceed to consider the prospects of criminal law enacted at the European level against this framework of historical development. The book will review the supremacy of Community law over conflicting national criminal law, the past legislative practice of harmonised 'administrative' penalties and their impact on national legal systems, the ramifications of the Greek Maize decision, the development of relevant Community principles of fundamental rights, and the 2005 decisions on implied criminal competence and sympathetic interpretation. In the light of these developments and the judgment of the Court of Justice in the Ship-Source Pollution case, the work will explore whether there are fields in which the Community might enact directly applicable criminal penalties in the form of EC regulations. It will also examine related doctrinal concerns considered by the Court of Justice in its earlier case law on the interface between EC law and national criminal law. "--

In the three decades since it was established in the context of a secretive and technocratic intergovernmental organization, Europol has evolved into a European Union agency with some, albeit limited, supranational capacities. This article overviews the gradual legal development of Europol's powers and discusses the obstacles to creating a European federal police force. Limits to powers and accountability continue to frame discussions on EU's operational criminal justice powers. While many EU agencies can lay claim to embryonic supranational enforcement agency, the EU Member States have closely guarded operational and prosecutorial enforcement powers. This guardedness still shows, especially in EU criminal justice agencies' reliance on intergovernmental structures, such as colleges of national members, and mutually recognized but ultimately national decisions and judgments. Through the lens of its history, this article examines how and what kind of balance has been struck between accountability and competences in the current state of evolution toward Europol's potential supranational authority.

AbstractThe Court of Justice of the European Union has historically rejected references to preparatory work in the interpretation of EU Treaties. However, the preparatory work for the EURATOM, Maastricht, and Constitutional Treaties have played a role in recent judgments. The 'explanations' to the Charter of Fundamental Rights are expressly approved in the current Treaties. We examine the emerging case law on preparatory work. Reference to the drafters' intent does not necessarily support dynamic interpretation, and may potentially even ossify historical interpretations. Even if the consequence of their introduction is a conservative interpretation, their use raises questions of transparency and democracy, and complicates the already difficult task of interpreting the EU constitution.

"This timely book provides an astute assessment of the institutional and constitutional boundaries, interactions and tensions between the different levels of governance in EU criminal justice. Probing the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of the EU's approach to transnational crime, it proposes improved mechanisms for public participation in the governance of EU criminal law, designed to ensure better transparency, accountability and democratic controls. Influential scholars from across Europe analyse key practical challenges to the governance of EU criminal law in the context of specific crimes, including financial crime, cybercrime and environmental crime. Offering sector-specific perspectives on tackling transnational crime, insightful chapters examine the potential options for criminal-law cooperation between the EU and the UK after Brexit, and consider to what extent these avenues may represent enhanced mechanisms for the governance of transnational crimes and common security threats in the future. This important study will prove crucial reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students examining EU, transnational and comparative criminal law, as well as European integration studies and constitutional law more broadly. Practitioners and policy-makers working in the EU's Area of Freedom, Security and Justice will also benefit from this book's practical insights into the mechanisms of EU law and justice"--